Barely a minute into cross-examination of star witness Michael Cohen, defense attorney Todd Blanche addressed one of the key issues at stake in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case: Cohen’s credibility. made a direct attack.
Blanche first asked many of the witnesses whether he and Cohen had ever spoken. But Branch’s next question, like those that followed, was aimed at attacking Cohen’s character and highlighting his frequent insults toward Trump on social media. It was a little different. (Related: Former U.S. Attorney Alvin Bragg says his team is making a grave mistake by keeping Michael Cohen on trial.
Blanche asked Cohen if he joined TikTok after the trial started and called Cohen a “crying motherfucker.” “Sounds like something I would say,” Cohen replied. When Blanche brought up Cohen’s past comments, such as calling Trump a “vulgar, cartoonish misogynist” in the first episode of the podcast, the reaction was standard.
These are just a few examples Blanche uses to demonstrate that Cohen cannot stop talking about Trump, even when told to do so by prosecutors.
Blanche: You and I have never spoken or met before?
Cohen: I haven’t.Blanche: On April 23rd, you called me a “crying motherfucker” on TikTok.
Cohen: That sounds like what I’d say.Immediate objection.
Judge Marchan: The question is removed from the record.
— Katelyn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 14, 2024
Blanche’s questions frequently jump back and forth in time and so far have not touched much on the nature of the charges. But they all had one central thrust: highlighting Michael Cohen’s motives and questionable credibility.
Underscoring his motives, Mr. Branch went on to point out Mr. Cohen’s hope that cooperating with investigators would lead to a reduced sentence and the income he earned from his books, media appearances and podcasts in which he frequently speaks about Mr. Trump. I asked about it.
Cohen does not remember promising the prosecutor’s office in March 2023 that he would not appear on television.
Blanche: You testified yesterday about your specific recollection of the 2016 phone call, but you don’t remember whether you promised the DA’s office last March that you would stop appearing on TV?
— Katelyn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 14, 2024
Blanche similarly pointed to Cohen’s desire for Trump to be convicted, a desire Cohen has repeatedly expressed. At one point, jurors saw a T-shirt from Cohen’s podcast store depicting Trump in an orange jumpsuit while in prison, while Blanche was seen on a TikTok livestream just last week. He pointed out that he was wearing it. Judge Juan Melchan on Friday directed prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop talking publicly about Trump and the incident.
At one point, Blanche asked Cohen whether he was lying about his past public admiration and praise for Trump. “At the time, I was knee-deep in Donald Trump worship,” he said.
In the morning, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger concluded her direct questioning by asking Cohen whether he had any “regrets” about his past relationship with Trump. He said he doesn’t regret working for the Trump Organization, but he does regret doing things for Trump that he “shouldn’t have done.” “I violated my moral standards,” Cohen said. “And I got a penalty.”
Cohen explained that his subsequent change in attitude toward Trump was a decision about loyalty. He decided to listen to his family’s opinion, he said. “Why do we continue to have this loyalty?” he said, recalling a discussion he had with his family in 2018 when he was under investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. “We should be your first loyalty.”
Cohen said he decided to listen to his family because they questioned his loyalty to President Trump.
He explains where his loyalties lie: “My wife, my daughter, my son, and my country.”
Hoffinger got Cohen to plead guilty in 2018.
— Katelyn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 14, 2024
Mr. Cohen testified Monday that Mr. Trump both directed the payments to Stormy Daniels and supported a plan to repay Mr. Cohen with the allegedly falsified business records at the heart of the case. Continuing on this point, Cohen said Tuesday that he discussed reimbursement payments with Trump during a private conversation in the Oval Office on February 8, 2017.
The defense will continue cross-examining Cohen on Thursday.
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